| Describe the location and your goals for your Decorative Crosswalk. |
Thai Town is a six block stretch along Hollywood Blvd from Western Avenue to Normandie Avenue. According to the City of Los Angeles, Thai Town has a High Walkability score. Furthermore, the United States Census states that almost half of all workers within one block of this area do not own a vehicle. However, there are numerous barriers to area walkability. The Hollywood/Western intersection, a central intersection in Thai Town in which the neighborhood’s only Metro stop is located, is part of the City of Los Angeles’ High Injury Network. Of the 817 intersections identified by the Los Angeles Times in Los Angeles City that had high rates of pedestrian injury or death, the Hollywood and Western intersection was considered the 23rd most dangerous.
Two blocks from the Hollywood/Western intersection, there is a three way intersection with a crosswalk and a blinking yellow light signal. This intersection, Hollywood and Hobart, is less than half a mile from the Metro Red Line and rapid bus stops. Thai CDC aims to increase area safety and improve the streetscape by installing a crosswalk with a decorative Thai motif at this location. Greater safety on our streets will in turn increase the cohesion and resilience of our community. Furthermore, we hope to see increased cultural branding for Thai Town, which will result in a greater sense of community and a better ambiance, increasing tourism and thus economically developing the area. We hope to activate the streets of Thai Town, connect its residents to one another, and strengthen Thai identity in the area.
Having installed a temporary decorative crosswalk at this location for our Great Streets demonstration project, we received enormous positive feedback and are eager to be able to implement a permanent decorative crosswalk. From the surveys we conducted, the majority of people cited the decorative crosswalk as the pop-up element they were most excited about.
This East Hollywood neighborhood is also part of the LA Promise Zone which former President Obama designated in an effort to invest federal resources necessary to alleviate poverty, improve public safety, increase economic opportunities, and raise academic achievement in the area.
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